I agree with you on most of this, okay. However, if Ms. Duncan wasn't thorough enough to validate the ticket, and, went on to throw it away, then she should get nothing!!! We're talking about a medium of exchange here. I wonder how many times she's been either over charged or short changed, and, never caught it?? Is the judge gonna rule on this as well?? Let's say a person has a pocket full of paper and/or receipts, and, while passing a trash can decides to empty their pockets which also contains a $100 bill in the midst. Now, a bum comes along checking the trash can and finds the $100...who's at fault here?

It's the bum's lucky day!!!!! Finders keepers losers weepers!!! I suppose that if a person was visiting from another state came along and found this ticket to be a winner, the same scenario would be at hand. Now, how wrong is this? Ms. Duncan should be an example on why to completely and thoroughly check your ticket(s) before discarding it(them). Period.

L.L.

Let's hope the Appeal Judge get's it right and Mrs. Jones is able to keep ALL the money.

If Ms. Duncan's claim is true, that she scanned the ticket and the scanner mistakenly said it was a "non winner" she should sue The Lottery Commission as her loss was due to their defective equipment. Their defense would be that Ms Duncan never scanned the ticket as they must keep records of tickets that have been scanned.(computers never throw away information. If that is true (she never scanned it) then Duncan loses and Jones wins. If it is true (she scanned it and scanner was defective) Duncan wins against Lotto Commission not against Jones. Jones keeps the money. Everybody (except the Lottery Commission) walks away a winner. Lottery Commission has lots of money anyway so who cares about them. (They would probably sue the scanner manufacturer anyway.) This whole situation stinks.

Why would u tell anyone you found the ticket even if you did? That's just stupid. Do you know how many people would be lining up as the right full owner."even a fish wouldn't get caught if he kept his mouth shut"

Was a crime committed, no? The ticket was found in the trash. I think the Judge is wrong and Ms Jones should get to keep the money. If not for Ms Jones, Ms Duncan's million dollar ticket would be in the dump, where she intended it to go. If Ms Duncan had checked her ticket like Ms Jones did, then she would be the winner without going to court. At the least the lawyers should try to get their clients to agree to share the winnings.

this is a decision "bishop" the new hack arkansas lottery director should make to justify his existence. since he's been hired he has not been seen or heard from. time to step up "bishop" and be heard or seen.

Was a crime committed, no? The ticket was found in the trash. I think the Judge is wrong and Ms Jones should get to keep the money. If not for Ms Jones, Ms Duncan's million dollar ticket would be in the dump, where she intended it to go. If Ms Duncan had checked her ticket like Ms Jones did, then she would be the winner without going to court. At the least the lawyers should try to get their clients to agree to share the winnings.

why is everybody overlooking, "scanner said not a winner"??? omg!! I bet you she told the lady it was not a winner and wanted to keep the winnings for herself. Did anyone see the dateline story about these clerks???

Why would u tell anyone you found the ticket even if you did? That's just stupid. Do you know how many people would be lining up as the right full owner."even a fish wouldn't get caught if he kept his mouth shut"

Naw, I have to disagree with EVERYBODY HERE. Why? Possession is 90% of the law...and in this case, just because someone threw away a winning ticket due to not checking it thoroughly, the person who found it and checked shouldn't be stripped of the winnings!!!!! This is total and complete BULLSH*T!!!! I can promise you that if it involved a prize of $50 on a scratch-off, there would be absolutely no issues!!!! However, because this woman wasn't thorough enough to make sure her ticket wasn't a winner, the judge now wants to penalize THE SMART PERSON THAT ACTUALLY GOES AROUND AND CHECKS DISCARDED TICKETS TO VALIDATE WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE LEGIT WINNERS.

Hell, the ticket wasn't even signed!!! So, this means that if I throw away a $1000 scratch-off, and, someone else finds and claims it, I can file an appeal and get it back!!!! How corrupt is this? The bearer of the ticket is suppose to be the winner providing it wasn't stolen etc. Sorry, I totally disagree with this whole scenario...and the judge is wrong for ruling in this manner. It's the person's fault who threw away a winning ticket...not the discoverer's.

Amazing......

L.L.

150% correct!

"Finders keepers, losers weepers" is what I say to this!!!

And about the scanner? The person who THREW AWAY the ticket scanned it..Maybe there was a crease in the bar code and the scanner misread it..It has happened to me on a winning($3) ticket when the scanner said 'Sorry, not a winner' even tho I had manually CHECKED the numbers and knew it was a winner..Technology is not infaalible!

An Arkansas woman who cashed a $1 million lottery ticket may have to give up the winnings to a woman who threw away the ticket after she bought it, according to a judge's ruling Tuesday.

The judge decided that Sharon Duncan was entitled to the prize money, not Sharon Jones, who claimed the prize money after she took the ticket from a trash can of discarded lottery tickets at a convenience store in Beebe, a city about 40 miles northeast of Little Rock.

Jones' attorney, James Simpson, said he plans to appeal. Jones had testified that she already spent some of the money on a new truck and cash gifts to her children.

Simpson noted that Duncan testified she threw away the ticket after the read-out on a ticket scanner said, "Sorry. Not a winner." The attorney argued that people shouldn't be allowed to throw items away and then say, "'ooh, I want to un-abandon it.'"

"We'd have garage-sale law all over the place," he said. "It became trash when someone threw it away."

White County judge Thomas Hughes, however, said Jones never met the burden of proof that Duncan abandoned her right to claim $1 million.

"The $1 million was never found money," Hughes said.

Earlier Tuesday, Jones testified that she gathered a handful of discarded tickets from the trash can — as she had done many times before — and said there was no sign alerting customers not to take tickets.

That contradicted Super 1 Stop store manager Lisa Petriches' earlier testimony that she had taped a sign that read "Do not take" on the can. But a former store clerk testified that Petriches posted the sign only after Jones claimed the prize.

Petriches brought the lawsuit against Jones, and Duncan joined it after the judge said at a January hearing that she may be the true owner of the ticket. Hughes ruled that Petriches and the store's owner, Louie Dajani — whose corporation, Summer One LLC, joined the suit — weren't entitled to anything.

The judge instructed the winning side to write the judgment for his signature, and it will become official once Hughes signs it. Jones' attorneys will then have 30 days to file an appeal.

Hughes found that the evidence weighed in Duncan's favor that she bought the winning ticket, even though lottery records and store security video didn't synch up to the precise timing of the purchase.

Arkansas Lottery Security Chief Lance Huey testified that he investigated the circumstances of the ticket falling into Jones' hands. He said the lottery was satisfied with the investigation and awarded the prize.

Duncan's attorney, James "Red" Morgan, argued that she simply made a mistake by throwing away a $1 million ticket and that the only right she willingly parted with was to enter the ticket for the possibility of a secondary prize.

"Hughes found that the evidence weighed in Duncan's favor that she bought the winning ticket, even though lottery records and store security video didn't synch up to the precise timing of the purchase."

Duncan only proved she bought a ticket and apparently a losing ticket. Will the judge award the money to someone else if their timing synchs up better with the purchase?

"Arkansas Lottery Security Chief Lance Huey testified that he investigated the circumstances of the ticket falling into Jones' hands. He said the lottery was satisfied with the investigation and awarded the prize."

If any judge can overturn a decision by a state lottery, anyone can claim they purchased any winning ticket but lost it. In this case Jones said she found the winning ticket, but if a player bought the winning ticket in a very busy store, can they actually prove they bought it?

"White County judge Thomas Hughes, however, said Jones never met the burden of proof that Duncan abandoned her right to claim $1 million."

But Jones did meet the burden of proof to the Arkansas Lottery. And because Duncan testified when she checked the ticket, the terminal said "Sorry. Not a winner.", she can't even prove the ticket Jones found was the one she purchased.

This is rediculous!!!! #1 I've seen stories where clerks claim a ticket has lost to cash in, but seems that did not happen. He handed the losing ticket back, and she just tossed it. Then the other woman came along and found it, checked it discovered it was a winner, and cashed it it. I agree with what a lot of others have said. The person who threw it away should have been told SOL and you just lost out. She did not sign the ticket!!! So finders keepers. The judge is totally wrong!!!

Of the two attorneys, Mr. Simpson and Mr. Morgan, I wonder which one is closest to the power structure of Beebe? I wonder which one contributed the most to the election, and re-election campaigns to Judge Hughes? In small towns like this the answers to these two questions have a lot of influence on the verdict in a case such as this one. I know, because I live in a place such as this.

1st of all I think this will all be rectified with the appeal. The appeal goes before a different judge to see if the 1st judge was fair with his/her judgement.

2nd this phrase.

Hughes found that the evidence weighed in Duncan's favor that she bought the winning ticket, even though lottery records and store security video didn't synch up to the precise timing of the purchase.

If I was bought a ticket at the store around that time I guess I could have came forward and said it was mine too???

Finally, the reason she told the truth about how she got the ticket is probably because that is the right thing to do plus the store had cameras.

She might have been bragging about finding a 1 million dollar ticket in the trash. That is something big to find a ticket like that in the trash. You might not say anything about finding a "Free Ticket" in the trash but you might if you found a $500 winning ticket. I don't fault her for telling but myself, if they asked me how I got the ticket I probably would have said, "I'm lucky"